Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai First Impressions

Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai is the latest light novel adaptation produced by Feel, the studio behind Yosuga no Sora, KissxSis, Fortune Arterial, Mayo Chiki and the Da Capo series among others. This list will likely put off many people due to its nature and the kind of anime that Feel continue to make, namely romantic comedies with fantasy or super natural elements. Having enjoyed all of those series for one reason or another I at least wanted to give Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai a chance and see what it is like. Generally speaking series involving fantasy or super natural elements, but taking place during what at first appears to be an ordinary high school setting are series that I very much enjoy. I like the way they can bring together the standard high school romance, but then twist it a little by throwing in crazy fire or scythe wielding girls who appear to only want to kill the main character. It certainly spices up your normal romantic comedy when girls who seem to want him dead are chasing the main protagonist.

The central protagonist of Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai is Kaga Ryousuke, a fairly ordinary high school boy who is both incredibly perverted, while at the same time loving all women. We see him constantly vocalising his thoughts about the beauty of the woman’s body, including commenting on how impressive the bust of Okura Mina, his childhood friend is. Ryosuke is clearly revelling in what he sees as the beauty of life, and yet he seems to care about women immensely. It is odd to have a character that is so obviously perverted, with a significant reputation around his school that is nevertheless someone who is actually quite honourable. Okura Mina has obviously gotten used to his outbursts and general vocalisations, especially about her, and as with all such anime, she quite clearly has a massive crush on him.

It is very strange hearing the voice of Akihisa from Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu coming in the form of our perverted lead Ryosuke. Shimono Hiro does an excellent job of giving us a character that is both very confident in his ability and willing to help a mysterious redhead who is soaking (for moral, but also immoral reasons). But at the same time we see a character that, when faced with the unknown and a girl wielding a massive scythe does freeze up and clearly start to question his sanity, only to jump right back into his normal way of thinking. Interestingly enough Shimono Hiro voices Kenshi Misaki in Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari, Haruka Kasugano in Yosuga no Sora, and Shou Kurusu in Uta no Prince-Sama Maji Love 1000%, possibly the best and campest reverse harem even made. It is safe to say that having him voicing our male lead is an excellent decision and he is doing a good job of it during this first episode.

Seeing our main character willing to help Lisara Restall for both moral, but also clearly immoral reasons just shows that he cannot leave people alone even when he is thinking of fairly perverted things. In a sense his good and kind nature is Ryosuke’s undoing, and by allowing Lisara in his house, he is clearly setting about a chain of events that will change his life forever. This plot point itself is nothing new, and is to be expected from such a story, but the way it is pulled off makes the first episode rather enjoyable. That he is effectively killed and used by Lisara, a shinigami who has come to earth in search of a ‘special one’, someone with such immense energy that she could become one of the most shinigami in the underworld demonstrates how Ryosuke is brought down by his own good will.

What is curious is how Lisara treats Ryosuke, suggesting that he is weak and is only useful to her in order to sustain her existence in the mortal realm. And yet we see his energy that had been sucked out by Lisara seemingly come back when he thinks of, or sees perverted things. Something similar happens during the excellently produced fight sequence when a mysterious monster attacks Lisara and Ryosuke. It appears that there is more to Ryosuke than meets the eye, and that he may be far more important than Lisara had originally thought. As these stories go of course, it is highly likely that Ryosuke will turn out to be one of these special people who Lisara is after, and his energy is likely to be significantly higher than anyone else’s.

We also have a far darker element being hinted at during this episode, with a shadowy figure drinking what may be wine in what has to be called an ‘ominous hall’. Her laughter while talking about Lisara as ‘onee-chan’ suggests that there is something more going on here and that it is highly likely Lisara herself is in some sort of trouble while on earth. We also have the curious and actually quite sudden revelation that Ryosuke is due to die in three months time, something that understandably comes as a shock to him. Lisara mentions that you can die from any number of reasons and that this is a date set in stone, one that cannot be changed, although she does hint that this part may not be completely accurate. Ryosuke is therefore bound to a shinigami until he dies and must help her find a truly powerful person. It seems clear then that this series will partly be about the curious and strained relationship between Ryosuke and Lisara, two people who cannot be separated in a sense.

While Lisara is incredibly arrogant, describing herself as a true aristocrat of the underworld, she must rely on Ryosuke on energy to survive on earth. We also have this shadowy presence that is clearly got some sort of nefarious plan involving trying to dispose of Lisara. Being a series that is aired on AT-X Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai is uncensored, something that comes as a relief. While many may not like such fanservice, it is incredibly frustrating to have a series will loads of white smoke and clunky censoring to cover up simple panty shots. Overall it was an entertaining premier for Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai, and while it is clear such a series may put many people off, I very much enjoyed the first episode. There hasn’t been much chance to really see what the animation quality is like, but Feel produced some excellent animation in the series mentioned at the beginning, so it seems safe to assume they will keep this up for Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai.